Last Sunday, the New York Jets took on the Las Vegas Raiders at MetLife Stadium. Once again, the Jets were seeking for their first win of the 2020 season. They came within seconds of picking up a victory but blown coverage on defense resulted in WR Henry Ruggs scoring the game-winning touchdown. This too would have been a quality win for the Jets who still remain in the driver’s seat to draft Trevor Lawrence. As a result, HC Adam Gase fired DC Gregg Williams after the controversial call of not playing prevent defense. Apparently, the two had an argument Monday morning and decided to part ways. This means that LB Coach Frank Bush will be promoted to DC for the last 4 games of the season. The Jets have now tied their longest 12-game losing streak dating back from 1995-96. Now, it seems almost certain that these Jets will in fact go 0-16 but stranger things have happened.
In terms of the offense, it was an up and down day for QB Sam Darnold. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 186 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, an interception, and two lost fumbles. Darnold came out slinging giving the Jets a 13-7 lead in the 2nd quarter. Then, the Jets turned the ball over on 3 consecutive drives which would result in Las Vegas taking a 17-13 lead into halftime. It then appeared that the game was out of reach for the Jets when the Raiders scored another touchdown making it 24-13 at the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, RB Frank Gore came out of the game with a concussion after only one play. However, this paved way for running backs Ty Johnson and Josh Adams to rush for over 100 yards punishing the Raiders defense. Then Darnold would throw for and rush for a touchdown to eventually give the Jets a 28-24 lead with just over 5 minutes to play.
Then it was time to play defense. All game, they had done a solid job including stopping the Raiders on 4th and 3 with just over 2 minutes to play. It seemed like the Jets were well on their way to picking up a win today just if they picked up one first down. However, they did not pick it up. This allowed them to give the ball back to the Raiders with excellent field position and just over 30 seconds
to play. It was 3rd and 10 from the Jets 39-yard line with under 10 seconds to play and Carr connected with Henry Ruggs for the game-winning touchdown. There was some speculation that Adam Gase did not agree with the play call suggested by Gregg Williams and tried to call a timeout to readjust but never called it in time. There were some rumors going around that the Jets purposely lost this game but as the great Herm Edwards once said, “You play to win the game.” These are the types of games that lead teams to an 0-16 season. No players or coaches ever want to be associated with this anomaly.
Next week, the Jets will travel to the west coast to take on the Seattle Seahawks. When the schedule first came out, many Jets fans were circling this game as an almost definite loss. However, the Giants were able to beat them 17-12 in a huge upset and without Daniel Jones too. Stranger things have happened. Keep believing Jets fans...anything is possible.
-Jack Henry Cicio
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